|
ABOUT US |
|
BJ Sports, Inc. * New
Owner * New Manager.. |
|
. |
BJ Sports, Inc. was established in
the mid-70s by Ron Both and remained under his ownership and management
until his death just after Thanksgiving 2007. During his
ownership, BJ's gained a reputation, both locally and regionally, as the
'go to' shop in southwestern Michigan. If you wanted to get the
latest scoop on how the fishing on Lake Michigan was going, you went to BJ's. If you wanted to find out what lures were catching fish, you
went to BJ's.
In March of 2008, new owner
Ed Sommers and new manager John Speckine began the process of
negotiating the purchase of BJ's. Having been a customer of the
store and an occasional duck and goose hunting partner of Ron's, John is well
aware of the store's history and potential. After listening to
John's description and taking a look at the numbers, Ed agreed with the
assessment decided to pursue the purchase of the store. A purchase
agreement was finally signed the first week of May 2008.
 |
Ed is a manager with a major
manufacturing company in southeastern Michigan, so he will only
occasionally be able to be in the store. While not an avid
hunter or fisherman himself, he is an expert at fiscal
management and will make sure BJ's operates as a financially
sound entity. He is the backbone of the company. |
| John, who will handle the
day-to-day operations of the store, is a disabled veteran and a former scout for the
Atlanta Braves. Besides his baseball background (which has nothing
at all to do with running BJ's - he just likes to brag about
it), John has been a hunter and fisherman since he was knee-high
to a grasshopper and
has operated his own guide service for over 15
years. He will use his experience, along |
|
| with contacts
made over the years in the guide business, to help re-establish
BJ's as THE place to go in Berrien County for
hunting and fishing equipment and information. If you have
any questions or suggestions about BJ's, John is the man you'll
talk to. |
John is also an accomplished
teller of tall tales so be ready to listen to the occasionally
embroidered, but still 100% true, hunting or fishing story.
Honest. Read some of John's lies (but really true - seriously)
stories at www.biglakeoutdoors.com/stories.
John and Ed have known each
other for almost 10 years, and much to the dismay of both, seem to think
pretty much the same way. They met as members of the band 'Border
Line' and reached the high point of their musical careers in September
2002 by being invited to open for Keith Urban and Montgomery Gentry (we
won't go into detail here about the long, blonde wig John sported in
front of 20,000 people, but feel free to bring it up). John and Ed are both out-going and were the 'comedy
relief' members of the band, so you shouldn't have much trouble getting
them into a conversation.
We'll see you in the store!!
|
